Extraordinary Town Development Meeting to be held on Neighbourhood Plan

At the Town Development meeting on 26th January, several residents from North Row and Portway asked why the open meeting on the Neighbourhood Plan scheduled for 27th January had been cancelled, and when they would get to see the plan. Town Clerk Heather Abernethie explained that the open meeting had been cancelled because the plan was not ready for publication at that time, and it would not have been helpful for the public to have nothing to look at.
To try to expedite matters the Town Clerk had produced an addendum to the agenda to ask the Town Development Committee to allow the draft Neighbourhood Plan and associated strategy documents to be taken direct to Full Council on 16th March rather than waiting until the next Town Development meeting on 23rd March. Because Full Council has to ratify all the documents prior to them being published, this would enable the six-week consultation period to start in March rather than waiting until the next Full Council meeting in May.
It is proposed that the consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan should take the form of an exhibition that will be taken to various venues. Although the draft Neighbourhood Plan itself is now ready for publication, the exhibition panels have yet to be prepared and costs have to be obtained for the necessary materials. Mr Chris Montagu, a member of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group who has been instrumental in the production of the plan, said “this has been a complex task, and we are delighted to have public interest in the plan. We are seeking the views of the community to make sure we’ve got it right, and haven’t missed anything. We know that we won’t satisfy everyone, but we hope that we have the balance right.”
Councillor Rob Fryer proposed that an extraordinary meeting of the Town Development Committee be held prior to Full Council on 16th March. “The Town Development Committee is the parent committee of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group, and it needs to give the plan its legitimacy”, he said. Councillor Davis said he saw the addendum as a way of getting the consultation underway as soon as possible, so felt an additional meeting would cause further delay. Councillor Cullen said “Full Council has decided not to influence the content of the Neighbourhood Plan, but has deemed it appropriate for Town Development to look at it and assess it before going to consultation. That being the case, I feel the plan would have more credibility if an extraordinary meeting of the Town Development Committee were held.” The proposal was carried by a vote of 4 to 2. The date of the extraordinary meeting will be published once it has been arranged